Shotgun shell



' Man-d1 16 1926.

J. H. STURGES sno'reun smm Filed Sept. 15f'1924 wi 4 a Nu v INVENTOR A TTORNE Patented Mar. 1%, 1926.

JOSEPH H. STUBGES, OF KANSAS CITY, I'EISSOURI.

SHOTGUN SHELL.

Application filed September 15, 1924. Serial No. 737,753.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn H. SIURGES, a citizen of the l'nited States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shotgun Shells; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the ligures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to shotgun shells and the primary object of the invention is to provide fixed ammunition for shotguns in the form of a shotgun shell so that the shot will make a comparatively perfect pat tern, this being accomplished by the provision of an expansion wad adjacent to the powder which will prevent the gases formed by the exploded charge from leaking, not only reducing the efliciency of the gases out also causing the shot to scatter.

The invention consists in a novel arrangement of parts, which will be clearly apparent by reference to the following description in connection with the accompanying draw ings, in which Fig. l is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of ashotgun shell constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the expair sion wad.

Fig. 3 wad, and

Fig. lis a sectional View through part of the shell, showing the expansion wad.

The shell 1 may conform to common shotgun practice with the usual base wad and fulrninate. The powder charge 2 may he introduced in the usual way and immediis a sectional view through the ately in front thereof is an expansion wad 3, which may consist of any suitable material and which is provided with a concave pocket 4-, into which part of the charge is received. lnnnediately in front of the expansion wad 3 is a stiff card wad 5, one or more thicl; wads 6, a stiff card wad 7, the shot or projectilcs 8, and then a stiff card ward 9, the whole being held by a crimped-over edge of the shell.

The concave recess l is formed so that th inner end 11 of the expansion wad 3 is relatively thin so that when the explosion takes place, the wall 11 expands against the inner face of the tube or shell 1 so that it packs sufliciently to prevent escape of the combusted gases and I have found by actual experiment that the shot are confined within arelatively small pattern and that the tendcncy of the shot to spread or scatter is entirely eliminated.

The prime feature of the invention is the expansible wad immediately in front of the explosive charge and a secondary feature, the peculiar form of the concave recess which causes the wad to hug the inner face of the tubular shell 1 so to eliminate liability of the leaking past the wad or wads when the explosion takes place.

Vhat I claim and desire to secure by Le ters-Patent is A shot gun shell having a cap and a powder charge, a wad in front of the powder charge having a recess into which some of the powder is received, a stiff card wad in front of the expansion wad, additional. relativcly soft wads in front of the card wad, a stiff card wad in front of said relatively soft wads, and projectiles in front of the last named card wad.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JOSEPH H. STUBGES, 

